4^th day with the children:

George was off to “Leena” (I am not sure of spelling and do not have a map) for more paperwork. He had to discuss the division of the children and what paperwork is needed to be completed for Kerch City Court for adoption of the children. He left early in the mourning before we woke and returned about 3:00. He went to apply for a court date but the judge told him we needed more information on the possibility of getting a birth certificate for Maxim before he would set a court date. We are hoping to know more soon, but there are still no connections that can help and we have to go through the system. It seems like everyone here is sick or on holiday so we are waiting again. George is hoping for court on next Friday but we are not sure of anything right now.
We got to visit the children alone tonight. George brought us in and explained that he had meetings with the Kerch officials and could not stay. It was a little hard at first because we usually have George to translate but we started playing and everything picked up. We were playing catch with the football but Sasha was making a card for a friend. Maxim accidentally hit her and said “is-va-nechi” which is “I am sorry” or “excuse me” so I told Shawn what he said and he reaches over and pokes Sasha and says “is-va-nechi” and the children all start laughing. It became the joke for the whole night. Every time something went wrong one of us said it. We went to visit Maxim’s teachers and groupa tonight. His groupa only has 8 children so they have more room. Their bedroom was pretty big, his bed was by the window closest to the heater. Of course he was off again taking pictures and videos of everyone in his group. When we were ready to leave we had to stand in the hall and call his name, Pavel had to search for him and then he wanted to wait to leave so we could see his video. Things are going very well and we are excited to see how interested the children are in us and the thought of coming home with us. We worked on language some more, reading out of a Russian alphabet book for children. They said the letters and I copied and then we went through the pictures and they said the name in Russian and I repeated, then English and they repeated. They are very fast learners, and excited to get the words right without us telling them.
When we arrived today there was a group of children on their way to class. The teacher stopped to talk to George and as we waited we looked at the children. Among them was the girl that was Shawn’s favorite when we were looking at children on the SDA website. We wanted a sibling group and she had no brothers or sisters so we decided to look at others. He was very excited to see her but sad that we could not take her home. Maybe we will travel again to come and get her. We hope to see her again so we can say hi and hopefully if we do come back she will remember seeing us.

5^th day:

We walked to the café that George wanted to take us to the first day that we arrived in Kerch. It was very nice. We are learning not to judge a book by it’s cover. The outside of a lot of the buildings look like they are in bad shape. Everyone we have gone in to is actually nice. They seem to spend money on nice things in the home but not on the upkeep of the homes, apartments or buildings. George spent most of the day running around trying to get help with paperwork, probably 12 hours. The birth certificate is really causing a lot of trouble. We need documents translated into Russian. See they speak Russian here but use the Ukrainian alphabet to spell the words. A translator has to have a certificate in the language for it to be used in the court or for Russia to accept it for new birth certificates.
We got to spend a few hours alone with Sasha today. Maxim and Pavel went on a class trip to the library. Maxim was very quiet when he arrived. Pavel said he spent his time setting up a network page he hopes he will be able to access from America so he can stay in touch with his friends. While we were alone with Sasha we spent our time working in a Russian alphabet book with stickers. She is very independent and does not ask for help. She will say the Russian sound of the letter and the Russian name of the picture but will not repeat it in English. Our bag of tricks has run out so maybe tomorrow we can get to the toy store and see what they have. Maxim loves legos and Sasha wants to be a princess and model for pictures one minuet and play ball and wrestle to next. What do you buy for her?? Pavel likes music but he is more focused on getting out and doing things, which the orphanage is not ready to let us do. Maybe soon.

Day 6:

Today was a very bad day for George. He is having so much trouble with our paper work. He was up early again and left before we were up. He called about 10:00 am and asked if we were home to sign paper work. When he got here the names were spelled wrong to the application to the court so we had to pack up again and go to see Vera so the documents could be redone. She could not understand hoe to spell our last name, the computers do not have the same letters. It took several tries but finally we got it! Vera is the best help here (other than George). Without her we would be DOA. She really loves the children and wants to do whatever she can to get them home. We did some shopping for gifts for Maxim’s groupa, went to exchange some more money, put more minuets on the cell phone, and then off to court. We were hoping that we could get a court date with the information George has gathered in the past couple of days. He had an appointment and we still waited over an hour to be seen. We did get a court date!! December 23, 9:00 am. Uncle Mel be prepared for possible pick up on Christmas day. Should be home for Christmas, just barely. On the way home we stopped at a translator to see if he could help with our problem and he was not able to translate because he only had certificates for German and English. He said he would draw up a power of attorney and help us with a notary so George can work in Russia for us. So we started home and decided to stop at the internet café so we could change our flight home. While we did this George went to talk to another translator. When he gets there the translator is out of the building but a guard points and says that is her in the yard. He waits while she talks to a friend. He decides that he will just go home and come back tomorrow because he is tired. While George is getting ready to walk away he is “told” to go back. He is a very religious man and he feels that it was by God, so he stays. He hears her friend tell her she thinks she has a customer and she will talk to her later. This lady seems to be a true blessing because she knows how to do the paperwork needed and offers to do this without pay and send documents by courier. This is the only fee she is asking for. She has adopted a child and understands what we are going through. FINALLY GOOD NEWS!!
We were a little late going to see the children because George was talking to angels but we made it by 5:00. Sasha was playing and was happy to see us, Maxim was still in class. We were told that now Pavel is sick and in isolation. We played with Sasha until Maxim came. It is hard to hold their attention because they are used to all of the toys, there are only so many photos Maxim can take, and it is a very small room. Now we competition. There is a family from Italy here to adopt a 5 year old boy. They have much cooler toys and the children sneak off to play with them and some back for a visit. Maxim saw that we brought gifts for his groupa so he was excited to give them and wanted us to visit with his friends. The children were all gathered in the play room watching DVDs and playing on the floor. When we came in we noticed right away several children that were on the SDA website, one of which is the favorite of Shawn. The children are all excited to have new people to see. They are learning English in school and each new a verse and wanted to share with us. It was very good to see them all so proud. Some can ask a few questions, but most have just memorized their poems for the new year celebration. The bracelets that we sent the children and have been sharing have caught on. The children are coming up to us and telling how many of what kind they have.
On the way home we thought we would stop to check on Pavel and say hi through the window. When we asked the doctor he said to go to the window, but the children said he was taken to the hospital. We were told that this is to stop a total contamination to all children. That is two children in this family in the hospital. Vitaly and Pavel. We hope to hear more soon, hopefully the rest of us will not get sick.